Porcello shines as Red Sox defeat Athletics

By Bill Koch / Providence Journal

Tuesday

Apr 30, 2019 at 10:11 PMApr 30, 2019 at 11:03 PM

Mookie Betts cracked a one-out solo home run in the bottom of the first, and that was just about all the offense Red Sox starter Porcello required on Tuesday night. The Red Sox cruised to a 5-1 triumph over Oakland and can salvage a winning home stand with another victory in Wednesday’s matinee finale.

BOSTON - Rick Porcello made his 133rd start with the Red Sox on Tuesday night, and the right-hander had never enjoyed one like this before.

Porcello had recorded at least one out in the eighth inning 16 times. He had held opponents scoreless on nine different occasions.

But Porcello hadn’t been able to marry the two together until this razor-sharp effort at Fenway Park. He cut through the Athletics with precision and ease, putting Boston in position to notch its second series sweep of the season.

Mookie Betts cracked a one-out solo home run in the bottom of the first, and that was just about all the offense Porcello required. The Red Sox cruised to a 5-1 triumph over Oakland and can salvage a winning home stand with another victory in Wednesday’s matinee finale.

Porcello retired the last 10 men he faced and 16 of the last 17. He worked five 1-2-3 innings and didn’t allow any member of the Athletics to touch third base. Ramon Laureano’s single to right in the third and Nick Hundley’s double to the corner in left in the fifth were the only two hits surrendered by Porcello, who threw 78 of his 114 pitches for strikes.

“I haven’t pitched the way I’ve wanted to up to this point, so it was nice to get that one rolling,” Porcello said. “Let’s keep building off of it.”

Porcello was hammered for 14 earned runs in just 11 1/3 innings over his first three starts of the season, losing all three. Boston has come out on top each of the last three times Porcello has taken the ball, as he’s allowed just five earned runs in 19 2/3 innings. Being reunited with catcher Sandy Leon seems to have rejuvenated Porcello, as they worked at a brisk tempo throughout the evening.

“He was great,” Leon said. “I’ve caught him three times this year and that was his best. He was at his best today.”

Porcello recorded five of his eight strikeouts on sliders, throwing the pitch 41 times and generating five of his seven swings-and-misses. He froze a looking Matt Chapman for the final out of the first, his eighth strike in as many pitches, and Porcello was off and running.

“For him, I’ve been saying all along that he’s so versatile,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “He can use the fastball up in the zone and then he can throw it down and away. He can use the slider and the curve and the changeup. That’s a good thing.

“Sometimes it works against us because there’s a lot in play and we get caught in between with what we’re going to use, but he’s smart. He understands what he means to us, especially going deep into games.”

The closest thing resembling a jam faced by Porcello came in the third. Robbie Grossman drew a two-out walk to put men at first and second for Chapman, who hit a sharp grounder to short. Xander Bogaerts flipped to Michael Chavis at second and Grossman was called out on a bang-bang fielder’s choice to end the inning.

“We’ve been working hard at it,” Porcello said. “One week I threw a bullpen every day between starts. We’re doing whatever we can to get it on track.”

Boston’s bats were the ones making the noise for much of the evening. Betts smashed a drive to the bleachers in center and Leon lined an RBI single through the right side in the second to make it 2-0. Mitch Moreland’s two-run homer to center in the fourth doubled the lead and Rafael Devers lined an RBI double down the line in right to make it 5-0 in the fifth.

“Defense, offense – we’ve played together,” Leon said. “The last couple games we’ve played together. Hopefully we can do it again tomorrow.”

Grossman sent a leadoff solo homer over the home bullpen in right center to break up the shutout bid in the ninth. Tyler Thornburg was eventually able to escape despite requiring 24 pitches. Matt Barnes was warming in the Red Sox bullpen when Kendrys Morales bounced into the game-ending fielder’s choice, sparing the 31,754 fans on hand any unnecessary drama.

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